WSU Philosophy Professor Susan Sterrett will deliver an invited keynote address, entitled, "The 'Why' of Methodology in Scale Modeling", at the 9th International Symposium on Scale Modeling, taking place in Napoli, Italy, March 2-4.
Here is the abstract for Professor Sterret's talk:
"Scale models are special among all models in science, in that they are so intimately
connected
with what they model. They are both models in the (physical) world, and models of
the (physical)
world. Those who use scale models in their research know that the design of the scale
model
experiment, as well as the interpretation of its results, are informed by physical
theory. Though
practical experiential knowledge is often also involved, physical theory is fundamental
to the use
of scale models, even if only implicit in the methods used. There are different approaches
to
applying physical theory in the design of scale model experiments.
An intriguing question is whether the fundamental reasons that these different approaches
are
effective (when they are) are the same.
In this talk, I take a philosophical look at the methodology of scale models, especially
the
question: Why does the methodology work? I center my investigation on the approach
of similar
systems. To emphasize that the kind of similarity that is meant here is similarity
with respect to the
behaviour studied in the physical sciences, the term physically similar systems has
been used.
Though proportions, and even dimensionless ratios, had been used as a basis for scale
model
experiments long before the formalization of the method in terms of sets of dimensionless
parameters (pi groups), the articulation of the concept in terms of physically similar
systems by
Buckingham in 1914 was distinctive.
It is also notable that Buckingham presented the method as an application of something
called
dimensional equations. The paper was titled "On Physically Similar Systems: Illustrations
of the
use of Dimensional Equations." Some discussions of dimensional analysis use dimensions
and
units interchangeably but they are not the same. In some contexts, it may not matter,
but in others
the difference is telling. I will explain the significance of dimensions in metrology
(the science of
measurement). Understanding their role in metrology provides insight into why dimensions
and
similarity really are related, when a system of measurement is designed to be a coherent
system of
measurement. A system of measurement is coherent (as the term is used here) when the
relations
between its units are the same as the relations between quantities.
I will explain that the notion of system also plays a crucial role in explaining why
the
methodology works when it does. If time permits, I will also raise the question of
what insights
from this inquiry into methodology of scale modeling in terms of dimensions might
be useful in the
new suggestions to use data-driven methods in scale modeling."